The director of a company which cold called small businesses and individuals for sponsorship has been disqualified from acting as a director following an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

(PressZoom) - Gemma Louise Reilly, 31, of Stockport, the director of T.I.B (North) Limited (TIB) gave a disqualification undertaking to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills not to promote, manage, or be a director of a limited company from 18 February 2016 until 2026.

TIB, which stands for “Teenage Information Bureau”, commenced trading from the Stockport area around November 2010. According to Ms Reilly, the aim of the company was to promote sexual awareness in young people through the production and distribution of a booklet to schools/colleges/youth centres, the funding for which would be sought from both individuals and small businesses. Company accounts suggest that over a period of 3 years the company had a turnover in the order of £404,844. The booklet had no official endorsement.

On 3 December 2013, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills presented a petition to wind-up the company on grounds of public interest. On 10 February 2014, eight days prior to the hearing, the company was placed into Creditors Voluntary Liquidation. A compulsory winding up order was subsequently made on 18 February 2014.

In providing an undertaking, Ms Reilly did not dispute that she caused or allowed TIB to make false and misleading statements designed to pressure individuals and/or businesses to pay for sponsorship. In addition to this, she did not dispute the allegation that she failed to maintain, preserve and/or deliver up adequate accounting records.

Commenting on the disqualifications, Ken Beasley, Official Receiver at the Insolvency Service’s Public Interest Unit, said:

This company received hundreds of thousands of pounds in funding from individuals and small businesses who believed that their funds were being put to good use.

The Insolvency Service has strong enforcement powers and we will not hesitate to remove directors from the business environment when they have failed to demonstrate the level of care and responsibility that is required of them.

Notes to editorsT.I.B (North) Limited (Company Registration Number 7350530) was incorporated on 19 August 2010. The company traded from premises at Unit 10a-12 Climax Works, Durham Street, Reddish, Stockport SK5 6YZ. This was also the registered office of the company.

A disqualification order has the effect that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification cannot:

act as a director of a company take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership be a receiver of a company’s property In addition, that person cannot act as an insolvency practitioner and there are many other restrictions placed on disqualified directors by other regulations.

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings.

Further information on director disqualifications and restrictions can be found here.

The Insolvency Service administers the insolvency regime, investigating all compulsory liquidations and individual insolvencies (bankruptcies) through the Official Receiver to establish why they became insolvent. It may also use powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK. In addition, the agency authorises and regulates the insolvency profession, deals with disqualification of directors in corporate failures, assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay employees, provides banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds and advises ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

For all media enquiries outside normal working hours, please contact the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Press Office on 020 7215 3234/3505.

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